


Send Him Flowers

by JalTheJinxed



Series: SHF [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baby Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Cussing, Dark Magic, Fantasy Violence, How Do I Tag, M/M, Monsters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Runaan The Disaster Gay, Slow Burn, aka Runaan is pining, lots of pining, magical girl au, more intense content than the drabbles (if you read them), set in Elarion, the au nobody asked for, the monsters are called "spawns", the struggle is real, when you think you're over your crush but then you see them years later and discover you're not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:14:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26203276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JalTheJinxed/pseuds/JalTheJinxed
Summary: People disappeared, that's just how it worked. It was extremely rare for a missing person to be found. Such stories were rumors, or maybe campfire stories, and everyone knew how the story would end. Cold.Cold case or cold body, the stories always ended the same.Ethari knew this, so when his friends went missing he knew that was it. He would never see them again. The world kept spinning, though, and he had to move on.But then Runaan walked back into his life and anything became possible.
Series: SHF [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902925
Comments: 7
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I said I was going to make this a comic but I discovered writing is a great de-stressor for me, so... Oops, fanfic. Sorry.

The TV droned on apathetically, though Ethari couldn’t blame it for sounding so distant. News stories like this were common. He half-heartedly listened as he worked- Heart half aching and half indifferent. It was a common story. Someone else had gone missing and now their picture was on the news while the reporter listed their age and height and gave the usual spiel. 

“...Her family asks that anyone who’s seen her please contact them or the authorities,” The newscaster continued.

Ethari wrinkled his nose and slid out from under the car he was working on. “Dale, can we _please_ change the channel?”

His coworker paused his own work on restoring a car's front bumper to look between Ethari and the TV. “There’s a new one every week, isn’t there?” He hummed, whipping his hands off on his overalls as he crossed the room and retrieved the TV remote from a cluttered desk.  
  
“Every week?” Ethari repeated, more to himself than to Dale, looking back to the screen. “Try every day…”

“Now that’s a bit dramatic.” Dale countered, frowning with a hint of concern in his eyes as he watched Ethari slide back under the Toyota that had seen better days.

“What is?” Ethari asked, mind already back on his work as a LoonyToons rerun sounded from the TV.

“Oh, nevermind…”

The day went as usual, people brought in cars in various conditions of despair and Ethari and his coworkers fixed them until they looked and worked as good as new. The TV stayed on the rerun channel and played LoonyToon episodes until Ethari clocked out. As soon as he set foot out of the car shop where there was no work or TV to keep him distracted, his thoughts lingered back to the news story that had played earlier that day. He felt bad for the missing girl’s family, and for the missing girl, but he knew she would never turn up. And if she did, it wouldn’t be alive. No, if by some twisted, warped miracle she was found it would most certainly be as a corpse. Purple and cold, her fingertips and teeth and whatever else could be used to identify her missing from her person. It would be a DNA test that would identify her cadaver, but only _if_ she was found. It was extremely rare for a missing person to be found. Like, _extremely_ rare. Such stories were rumors, or maybe campfire tales, but the odds of a missing person being found were slim to none. Thus, such stories on the news lacked the power to draw proper responses from most. Everyone knew how the story would end. Cold.

Cold case or cold body, the stories always ended the same.

Ethari knew this personally, he had seen several of his friends become cold cases himself. Well, he hadn’t _seen_ it, hadn’t watched them be taken away by some unmarked van or criminal, but he had been there to see them the day before they vanished and he had been there to stare at their empty seats each day after the fact until graduation. It was because of this that Ethari couldn’t push such stories from his mind, brush them aside as if they were car accidents like everyone else in this twisted city seemed to do. Though the world spun on, Ethari couldn’t help but think of his friends every now and then, every time he saw a despairing family or lover or some flier or piece of the news discussing someone who was now who knows where.

Ethari sighed, tugging his phone out of his pocket as he walked in hopes of a distraction. As if answering his silent wish, his phone buzzed and the screen came to life, declaring Dale had texted him.

 _Are you walking home tonight?_ His message read.

 _Yeah,_ Ethari replied. _It’s nice out._ The three dots at the bottom of their conversation bounced to life, but Ethari sent a second text before Dale could hit send. _I’ll be fine, don’t worry._

There was a pause before the dots came back. _I’m about to clock out, I can give you a ride._

_I’ll be f i n e! Fresh air is good for you!_

_There’s been sightings in your area._

Ethari frowned softly at his screen. _Don’t worry, if i see anything I’ll make sure to scream, cry, and run away 👍_

_Ethari…_

_Crying is self care!_

_Ethari no_

_Self care!! :D_

_Text me when you get home._ A pause, then a second text. _And sign up for self defense classes._

Ethari snickered to himself and began to type his reply, but at that moment there was a flash of green and purple light and the ground shuttered, sending him and everyone else he could see stumbling. He looked to where the flash had come from in time to see a giant serpent rear its head from the next street over and roar. The cry sent a shiver through the concrete as well as Ethari’s spine, and numerous people joined the clamor by screaming and running. He stumbled backward, blundering around as scattering people bumped into him or straight up pushed him out of their way. He wound up with his back pressed against the glass window of whatever shop or diner he had been in front of, staring up at the charcoal-colored snake as its eyes and belly flared a bright green color before it lunged downward behind the line of buildings. People screamed both in the distance and around him, but his feet were suddenly stone and his legs feeble wood. He took shallow breaths, scrambling to reassemble his mind. He found himself finally moving again when his phone began buzzing. He flinched to life, turning the screen to face him and reading the words upon it.

_WARNING: Spawn incident on 54th street._

_Thanks,_ Ethari’s mind supplied. _I hadn’t realized!_

A second flash of light brought his gaze upward. Sparkling flecks of teal danced through the air above a figure leaping off a tall building on 54th street.

“You have to be shitting me…” Ethari breathed, clutching his phone to his chest.

Some distant part of his brain screamed at his legs to move, to run, but the rest of his mind was soaking in the display before him. The serpent had reared its head once more, this time to nip at the figure who sent swords and other pointed items flying in its direction with flashes of turquoise light. The serpent lunged but the figure launched themself into the air with a trail of glittering specs before disappearing behind the line of buildings again. The creature growled, righting itself and preparing to attack again, but as it moved a teal light began to form above its head, taking the form of a giant, intricate glowing bow with an arrow notched and drawn back. The arrow flew and went straight through the spawn's head. The serpent froze, green light shining through cracks forming in its hide until it burst into glistening dust. The bow above followed suit, glowing brighter and unraveling as if it were made of a single, long ribbon that then grew shorter until it shrunk in on itself and disappeared with a blip of light.

Ethari took a deep, shaky breath, watching the spawns dust sink to the asphalt behind the line of buildings until it was nearly all out of sight. He felt himself suddenly come to life, heart racing in his chest.

 _What am I doing?_ His mind screamed, _I should be running._

He threw himself into motion, sprinting down the sidewalk of the now empty street while cursing himself internally. Everyone else had run and were now somewhere safe, but he had stayed and watched the battle like a fool.

 _Idiot!_ He scolded himself, _Now what will happen to you?_

The answer to that question was: You will trip and fall on your face.

There was the sound of stone breaking and then he landed on the sidewalk with a grunt, his palms stinging from the scrapes that came with his failed attempt to catch himself. He gasped to reclaim the breath the ground had knocked out of him and, despite himself, turned to see what he had so gracefully tripped over. His eyes met those of a smaller version of the serpent that had just been turned to dust. It rose from the hole it had created in the concrete, tongue flicking out as it studied its new prey. Ethari slammed a fist against his mouth to muffle a scream, feebly pushing himself away with his feet. The spawn hissed and lunged forward, giving Ethari just enough time to curl up and properly scream before-

He heard the sound of metal impaling rock.

There was a burst of green light then silence. Ethari sat frozen for a long, unnerving moment before he slowly lowered his arms from his face enough to see around them. His gaze was first filled with the sight of a butterfly before he realized he was staring at someone's back and their clothes had the image of a butterfly outlined on the material along with a series of intricate swirling lines. The image was soon cloaked with long, white hair that was braided and tied back into a low ponytail near the butterfly's torso. The sudden contrast caused Ethari to flinch and finally take in the stranger before him. A lean figure clad in whimsical looking light armor stood with their back facing him, slightly crouched with their one hand wrapped around the handle of a sword that was half sunk into the sidewalk. A pair of twisting horns protruded from the top of their head, though one was broken a few inches from their skull. Their clothes appeared to be various shades of turquoise and blue, but the more Ethari tried to look at the being the more his eyes began to hurt, almost as if he were staring into a bright light. The figure slowly rose and straightened to their full height, sword vanishing in a similar fashion to the bow from earlier. A sickly looking grey jewel sat on the ground where the serpent had been. The figure raised their foot and brought it down on the gem, shattering it and grinding its shards into dust. The splinters spluttered with fits of green and black colored light before bursting into glittering dust that faded into nothing.

Ethari took a shaky breath, having forgotten to breathe, and instantly regretted it.

The figure before him- No, the magical girl before him turned around, and though a blinding streak of light prevented Ethari from seeing their face he knew the vigilante was looking at him.

“Are you alright?” They asked.

The magical girl visibly tensed once they were fully facing him. Ethari flinched and whirled around in search of the cause of their unease. Had the cops already arrived to arrest them? Was there another spawn? His brain scrambled as he searched the empty street but he saw nothing perceivably distressing. Behind him, the vigilante cleared their throat. Ethari flinched once more, quickly facing them again as his mind continued to race. 

_This is bad,_ His head managed, _This is very bad. I can’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be looking at a magical girl or anywhere near one, nonetheless talking to one._

But he continued to sit there, staring dumbly up at the figure before him as a headache slowly began behind his eyes.

"Are you hurt?" The magical girl pressed.

They began to move- and perhaps they were simply shifting the weight between their feet, but the movement caused Ethari to flinch again, his heart rate picking up.

"I'm fine." He blurted, instantly cursing himself for speaking. _I should be running. What am I doing?_

The magical girl gave a curt nod, taking a step back. "Good." There was a long moment where they both simply stared at each other. The magical girl gave another nod and took a second step back, turning their back on Ethari. "You should go." A pause. "Bye."

And then they leapt into the air, a translucent flower suddenly blooming under their feet. A new flower formed under their feet with each bound, taking them further and higher away until they were out of sight, the blossoms disappearing as quickly as they appeared.

Ethari stared after them until his senses slowly reawaken within him. Sucking in a panicked breath, he pushed himself to his feet and ran.

By the time Ethari was actually in his house it was around three AM. He had taken a scenic route home, a _very_ scenic route to make sure he wasn't being followed. Then, once his house was in sight, he hid and watched his street for nearly an hour in search of surveillance vehicles or other patrols. When he'd finally worked up the courage to enter his home he left the lights off, searched the house for bugs and the like, then locked the doors and windows and shut the blinds. He spent a while after that staring at his front door, his heart never giving up its relentless pace. He waited for the door to burst open, for the police to swarm in and arrest him and take him away to Area 51 or wherever it was people disappeared to.

_I don't want to disappear._

To Ethari's surprise, the night passed quietly, save for the sounds of the neighbor kids, who were apparently nocturnal, and the cicadas in the brush. He lingered in the spot he hadn't moved from all night, clutching a baseball bat with aching hands as the sun rised, until some distant part of his brain reminded him he had work later. He took a breath, his mouth feeling dry and his throat rough, and tried to segue his mind into motion. It took quite a bit of self-convincing, but he eventually left the house, having come to the conclusion that not showing up to work, even if he did call out, would render suspicion. He pulled on clean clothes and trudged out of his house, deciding driving while on zero sleep would be a bad idea. He wound up zoning out and winding up on streets he didn’t usually take to get to work several times. Upon the fifth time this happened, he cursed under his breath and slid into some corner store cafe in hopes of something that would give his brain a jumpstart.

It was fairly busy in the small coffee shop. He stood near the entrance and waited in line, listening to the murmur of patrons chatting, the occasional name being called out to let someone know their order was ready.

“Ron!” The barista called.

A middle-aged man walked up to the counter and took a paper cup and bag from the barista. Ethari sighed and tugged his phone out of his pocket, deciding he should let Dale know he was going to be late for his shift. He turned it on and found several unread texts from his coworker along with a missed call, as well as his battery nearly dead.

_I never charged it last night…_

He let out a second, heavier sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose under his glasses. “What a mess…”

Preparing himself for the lecture he was bound to get, he typed out an apology, struggling to form proper sentences as his mind spun.

_What do I say? I can’t tell him what happened. Does anyone already know?_

“Rachel!” The barista called.

Would there be cops waiting for him when he showed up to work?  
  
"Maliv!"   
  
Should he just go to the police station and confess?   
  
"Abril!"   
_  
Confess? Confess to what? To Elarion being a hazardous city that I should have never moved to? _   
  
"Runaan!"

A wisp of white hair floated through his peripheral vision, taking his attention along with it. He looked over to see a man with long white hair tied back in a low ponytail, clad in dark jeans and a grey t-shirt. When he turned to walk back in the direction he’d come from, coffee in hand and gaze casually traveling the room, Ethari found the man's eyes to be a striking and familiar teal color.

“Runaan..?” He murmured, brows furrowing and eyes wide.

He had thought he’d only repeated the name in his own mind, or at least quietly enough for no one else to hear, but those teal eyes turned to him, paused, then widened. 

And then Runaan tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground.

It was then that it registered in Ethari’s head that Runaan was missing his left arm, or most of it that is, the limb was missing except for part of his upper arm. Runaan tried to catch himself with his still present arm, and probably would have been successful if it weren’t for the coffee in his hand that splashed across his face and torso as his hand made contact with the ground. His hand slipped and he collided with the spilled drink upon the floor with a grunt.

“Runaan!”

It took a moment for Ethari to realize that, though his mouth was open, he wasn’t the one who had called out to the coffee-covered man.

“Runaan, are you alright?” A man in a suit with a British accent and dark skin that contrasted his fluffy, white hair asked, dashing to Runaan’s side and helping him to his feet.

Several other people approached, offering napkins or some other form of aid. Despite himself, Ethari couldn’t move. Maybe he was too tired for his brain to transport the command to his body, but he simply stood and watched as the white haired men exchanged brief words with each other and the small crowd around them before the suited man took his overcoat off and placed it around Runaan's shoulders. The pair parted from the crowd, approaching a stroller, took it, then left. Ethari had half the mind to follow them, he took half a step forward but then those teal eyes were on him again and he found himself unable to do anything but stand there, watching as the man walked out of sight.

“Do you think people can come back from disappearing?” Ethari dared to ask in the empty breakroom.

Dale quirked a brow, looking at Ethari like he had grown a second head. “What? Why?”

“I…” Ethari began quietly, watching his sleep-deprived reflection in his cup of stale instant coffee. “I don’t know. I saw someone who kind of looked like a guy I used to know… Same name too.” He paused, adjusting his grip on the foam cup. “He looked at me…”

Dale studied him for a moment with furrowed brows, mulling over the question with a soft grumble as he looked into his own cup of coffee. “In my personal opinion..?” he looked back to Ethari, “No, I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Yeah…”

“...Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be harsh-”

“No, no,” Ethari cut him off with a shake of his head. “You’re right. I’m just tired, I was probably gawking at some random guy who only vaguely looked like him.”

“Or you’re so tired you’re seeing things.” Dale chuckled, reaching over and topping off Ethari’s cup with some coffee from the thermos he always brought.

“Thanks…” Ethari smiled softly, inhaling the scent that was far better than the drinks taste in his opinion.

“No problem.” There was a long silence before Dale spoke up again. “I can cover your shift for you, if you want.”

“We work the same shift,” Ethari smirked with a raised brow.

“You know what I mean.”

“I’ll be fine, my head’s just a bit busy.” He swirled the bitter drink within his cup before downing it. “Besides, work is good for me, I need something to clear my head. By the end of tonight, I’ll be good as new.” he grinned.

He wasn’t.

He spent a week functioning off of minimal sleep, caffeine, and a heaping pile of eccentric paranoia. He replayed his encounter with the magical girl as often as he tried to forget it. The more he tried to remember, the worse the pain behind his eyes grew. The sensation was almost constant now, and Ethari was beginning to fear he was going mad. It was like a poisonous fog had engulfed his brain. He couldn't remember the magical girl's voice or any details about their appearance, save for the image of a butterfly that kept wafting around his mind. He tried to push thoughts of magic and spawns and elves from his head, but on the rare occasion he was successful his mind would wander to the man from the coffee shop. His head had become a swirling mess of conspiracy longing for answers. A large cat of skin and bones crept within his skull, hungry for information to consume and digest. He wasn’t sure how to feed this odd beast though, not in a way that was safe. He could search for clues on the internet, but if he typed anything suspicious into the search bar he would certainly be signing up for his own downfall. Searching his home for hidden mics or cameras became part of his routine when he got home from work, the fact he never found any doing nothing to ease his conscience. At one point he had worked up the courage to Google “butterflies” and after a vast amount of scrolling and side searches, he discovered the butterfly he remembered from the encounter had actually been a moth- a moon moth to be exact.

He quickly began referring to the magical girl as MothMan in his head. He also began watching the news more often, seeking anything that could possibly give him more information about the person who had-

Had saved him? Was that what had happened?

Ethari leaned back in his chair, furrowing his brows as the news reporter on his computer screen gave a lecture on the dangers of magical girls. Magical girls killed people, they were treacherous. They were the cause of most disappearances. They took people, turned them into cold cases. They had taken his friends.

_Why didn’t they take me?_

A new source of paranoia bubbled to life within him. Had MothMan spared him, or were they planning something more sinister?

Despite the remnants of his mind that supplied better judgment, he continued to dig for more clues. Eventually he wound up at the library. Books had to be safe, right? As long as he didn’t check any out, there would be no record of his searches, nothing someone could point their finger at and accuse him of anything, save for the small notebook he had brought.

So now, here he was, scribbling any sliver of useful information he could find down onto the lined pages of a wrinkled notepad with numerous books littered around the table he had claimed in the back of the library. He stayed huddled there for most of the day until a message from Dale pulled his head out of the books and reminded him of the time. He begrudgingly returned his books back to their respective places and tucked the little notebook deep into his pocket before making his way towards the front of the library. He was most of the way there, debating whether or not to grab a drink on the way home, when a streak of white caught his attention. He paused, stopping in his tracks, before slowly walking backward a few steps and peering into the aisle he had passed.

“Runaan...?” His voice came out quieter than he thought it would, quiet even for whispers common within a library, but he still heard. Teal eyes fixed on him from a few mere feet away, and Ethari knew. “It is you!” He breathed.

Runaans eyes widened, finger frozen in place upon the spine of some book he’d been looking at.

Much closer than they had been at the cafe, Ethari could see the man much better, and though he looked different than the day they last saw each other Ethari held no doubt it was him. His hair was longer now, braided and going down past his waist, and he now sported sidetails. Also there was the whole missing-arm-thing, the skin marked and scarred, but his eyes were the same. 

A long moment of silence passed before realization hit Ethari like a frozen fish. “Oh-! I’m sorry, you probably don’t remember me…” He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, doing his best to ignore the strange twisting pain that made itself known in his chest.

_That’s fair, though, I don’t blame him. We didn’t talk that much, really._

“No, I-” Runaan suddenly began, flinching to life. His voice trailed off and uncertainty flickered in his eyes. He slowly looked to the side, lowering his hand from the bookshelf. “Hello, Ethari…”

Ethari gasped softly and prayed the other hadn’t heard it.

_God, I’m too sleep deprived for social interaction._

“It…” Ethari began again, a smile overcoming his face as an ounce of warmth mad itself known in his chest. “It’s good to see you again. How are you?”

“Uh, you know…” Runaan trailed off, giving a small vague gesture and continuing to look at anything but Ethari.

“I thought it was you at the cafe the other day but I wasn’t sure,” He tried once more. “I’m sorry if I weirded you out.”

Runnaan simply shrugged.

Ethari struggled silently for a moment, not wanting to leave just yet. He glanced over to the bookshelf Runaan had been examining then paused, finally noticing a stroller parked next to it. “Is that your kid?”

Runaan turned to the stroller, reaching his hand over it and allowing the child within it to reach up and grasp his fingers. "My goddaughter." He replied, the briefest hint of a smile tugging at his mouth.

"Your goddaughter?" Ethari smiled, relieved to have found something Runaan seemed to be willing to talk about. He dared to approach, keeping mind to give the other space, and peered into the stroller. A baby with lavender eyes and fuzzy white hair stared back at him curiously. "Aw, she’s adorable! What's her name?"

"Rayla." Runaan replied, glancing at Ethari when he moved closer.

"Hello there Rayla!" Ethari cooed. "Are you enjoying the library?"

Rayla scrunched up her face for a moment, purple eyes watching Ethari before she babbled and stuck a wad of her blanket in her mouth to chew on.

“Who’s little one is she?” Ethari asked, chuckling softly as Runaan tried and failed to get Rayla to trade the blanket wad for a pacifier. “That fellow you were with?”

“Fellow?” Runaan repeated, taking a moment to figure out who Ethari was referring to. “Oh, no, she’s Lain and Tiadrin’s child.”

Ethari couldn’t help but gape at the other, eyes wide and mouth half open in a forgotten sentence.

_Lain and Tiadrin’s child… Lain and Tiadrin are alright too then._

“That’s… amazing,” Ethari finally managed after receiving a quizzical look from Runaan. He smiled broadly. “I’m so happy for them.”

Runaan hummed and nodded in response.

“So…” Ethari began after a moment of silence, struggling for a new topic. “Was that your friend at the coffee shop? Boyfriend?”

Runaan suddenly looked at him, his long ponytail whacking the bookshelf with the quick motion and his nose scrunched up. “ _Ibis_? Moon above, no. He’s... a colleague. We’re roommates, he helps me look after Rayla.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Do you two babysit for Lain and Tiadrin?”

“Ah, they…” Runaan’s gaze trailed away again. “They’re on a business trip.”

“Oh? What do they do?”

“They’re… bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards?” Ethari blinked. “Sounds intense.”

“You have no idea…”

Ethari chuckled softly, watching as Runaan tried and failed once more to swap the blanket wad for a pacifier. “I… It’s good to know you guys are alright.”

He smiled at Runaan but the other mans face was much harder to read. Those teal eyes seemed to search his own amber ones for a long moment before dropping to the floor, lips parting ever so slightly in an unspoken word, his brows softening, before he turned away from Ethari.

“I have to go.” Runaan said, unlocking the wheels of the stroller and walking away without waiting for a reply.

“Oh-” Ethari stammered, smile faltering. “See you!”

Runaan paused for a second, and Ethari thought he was going to say something, but then he turned and was gone.

It was the rain that brought him to that corner side cafe once more. It had now been two weeks since Ethari’s initial encounter with MothMan and a week since he’d last seen Runaan. The sky this morning had been filled with plenty of grey clouds, but the weather forecast had claimed the clouds would pass and deliver their fury to the next town over.

The weather forecast had been incorrect.

Ethari sighed glancing out the window then at his own drenched clothes before giving the barista an apologetic smile.

“Don’t sweat it,” She called. “Just dry off whatever you touch.”

“Thanks,” He sighed, walking up to the counter and letting his gaze wander around the shop as he took his glasses off. The cafe was fairly empty today, there were still patrons scattered about, but there was no line to place an order and only a few people waiting for their drinks. He paused, eyes fixing on a familiar face. Runaan sat next to the front windows, bent over some paper he was swiftly writing on.

“Can I get you anything..?” The barista asked.

Ethari flinched back to life, returning his attention to the lady behind the counter. “Uhm, yes, a medium coffee with some cream and sugar, please.”

“Name?” She asked, putting his order into the computer.

“Ethari,” He replied, fishing out his wallet and inserting his card into the card reader.

“Ethari, gotcha,” She nodded. “Give us a minute.”

“Of course.” He stepped to the side, someone else having entered the shop, and pulled out his phone to text Dale and ask for a ride the rest of the way to the repair shop. 

He pressed send and tucked his phone back into his pocket before looking for a place to sit. It didn’t take him long to notice the pair of teal eyes fixed on him from across the room. He returned the stare and Runaan flinched slightly, eyes darting back to the paper on his table and a pink hue dusting his cheeks. Ethari grinned and made his way over.

"Hey." He greeted.

For a moment it looked as if Runaan were trying to command the floor to open up and consume him, but then he glanced at Ethari and turned his gaze to the rain outside. "Hey…"

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" Ethari asked, shifting the weight between his feet with an anxious smile. The last time they'd seen each other Runaan had left suddenly, Ethari wasn't sure if he was welcome company or something akin to an unwanted reminder of the past. Or an unwanted presence in general.

Runaan stared out the window a moment more, jaw setting. Ethari was about to apologize and leave but then the others gaze drifted down to the table.

“No,” Runaan answered quietly.

Ethari hesitated, fidgeting with the ends of his scarf as he watched the other for a moment. “Uhm… I’m sorry if I said something to upset you at the library the other day, I-”

“It’s fine.” Runaan's eyes were practically burning holes into the tabletop.

“Uh, what are you working on?” Ethari asked after a tedious moment of silence.

“...English.” Runaan shifted in his seat, eyes scanning the paper.

“English?”

“Yes, I… School.” He cringed slightly at his own explanation and Ethari couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“School, eh? What for?”

“I, uh,” Runaan trailed off for a moment, gaze sliding to the sidewalk outside. “Never exactly got my degree.”

Ethari felt himself freeze for a heartbeat.

_That’s right, you disappeared halfway through our Senior year._

The heartbeat turned into two, and then several more. He stood there, lost in an incoherent swirl of thoughts and feelings until those bright eyes were on him once again.

“Uh-” He started, flinching to life.

“Ethari!” The barista called.

Runaan slowly looked toward the barista then back to Ethari, gaze staying on him for a moment before drifting back to his paper. “See you.”

“Actually,” Ethari fumbled, “I’m waiting for a ride. Would, uhm, would it be okay if..?” He looked between Runaan and the empty seat on the opposite side of the little table.

Runaan glanced at Ethari then the seat, looking surprised at its existence. “I, uh-” He glanced at Ethari once more then to his paper before finally resting his gaze somewhere out the window. “Sure.”

“Sure.” Ethari nodded before mentally facepalming. “I mean- Thanks.” He grinned.

A nod.

Ethari returned to the counter to get his drink, glancing back once to find Runaan looking at him again. The other flinched and looked away once more, covering his face partially with his hand and probably cursing under his breath. Ethari smirked and chuckled softly before claiming his drink, thanking the barista, and wandering back over to the small window-side table to take a seat.

"I wonder how long the rain will last," Ethari pondered aloud, sliding into the chair. "The weather report said the storm would pass us."

Runaan hummed, shifting in his seat as he turned his gaze towards the world past the window once again. "In my experience the weather report is usually wrong. Anyone could have seen this storm coming."

"Heh, yeah…" Ethari rubbed the back of his neck, gaze following the others. "I should've took an umbrella before leaving the house."

"Are you running late for something?" Runaan's eyes were back on him for a moment, fluttering down to his paper when Ethari looked back.

"Nah, not yet. I usually walk to work so I leave the house early in case something happens."

"There's a lot of _something's_ in this city…"

"Yeah…"

There was a moment of silence where they both watched the rain.

"So, do you come to this place a lot?" Ethari asked, looking around the coffee shop and sipping from his drink.

"I suppose," Runaan replied, scanning the room. "It's on the way to school and not too far from the apartment."

"Convenient." Ethari nodded. "Which college-"

"Ethari," A familiar voice called. "You're soaked to the bone!"

Both men turned to see a windblown and damp Dale cross the coffee shop.

"Wow," Ethari blinked. "You work fast."

"I was in the area when you texted," Dale replied, smoothing back bits of hair that had been blown out of place. He glanced between the two men at the table before looking at Ethari and raising a brow expectantly.

"Ah," Ethari turned to Runaan, gesturing to his older coworker. "Runaan, this is my friend Dale, he works at the repair shop with me." He turned back to Dale and gestured to Runaan. "Dale, this is Runaan, he's an old friend."

"A pleasure." Runaan offered a hand.

"Likewise." Dale grinned, grasping his hand and giving a shake with what was probably more force than Runaan had been expecting if the way his eyes widened slightly was any indication. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I’d like to get going before the rain starts up again.”

“Starts up again?” Ethari repeated, looking between Dale and the storm outside. “This is what not-started up looks like?”

“Does it usually storm like this in Elarion?” Runaan asked quietly, raising a brow at the rain.

“It comes in spells,” Dale shrugged. “The weather can be a bit unpredictable.”

“That’s true for anywhere in Ohio.” Ethari pointed out, taking a sip of his drink.

Runaan hummed in thought. “Sounds exciting.”

“Are you new here?” Dale raised a brow.

“I just moved here. Temporary relocation for work.”

“Temporary?” Ethari echoed. “When are you going back?”

Runaan looked back to him and seemed to freeze for a moment, eyes searching his own. “Uhm…” He looked back to his paper, fidgeting with the pen. “Ideally in a month if everything goes well, perhaps a week or so longer.”

“A month…” Ethari murmured, a frown dimming his face. “That doesn’t leave much longer, does it?”

Runaan glanced at him again, shrugging in response. 

Dale looked between the two before raising a brow at Ethari in silent questioning.

Ethari paused a moment before hesitantly holding his hands out. “Could I borrow those?”

Runaan looked up from his paper, clearly surprised. He looked between Ethari and his classwork before nodding and pushing his notebook over to Ethari’s side of the table and setting his pen on top. Taking the pen, Ethari turned the notebook to a blank page and scribbled his phone number and personal email down near the top.

“Here,” He said, pushing the items back over to their owner. “I’d like to stay in touch this round.” He smiled softly, then added “If that’s alright, of course.”

Runaan stared at the paper with wide eyes for a long moment before turning his gaze to Ethari. “Uhm,” He finally said after a moment of silence, looking out the window once more. “You’re going to be late.”

“Oh.” Ethari blinked, feeling something in his chest sink. “Right, you’re right.” He cleared his throat and slid out of the chair, doing his best to maintain a smile. He paused a moment to dry off the stool he’d been sitting on with some napkins before grabbing his drink. “See ya.” He gave a small wave before heading toward the exit with Dale, dumping the napkins into a trashcan on the way out. Runaan faced the window all the while.

“What was that about?” Dale asked once they were in his car. 

“Nothing,” Ethari smiled, buckling his seatbelt. “He’s just an acquaintance, really.”

“ _Really?_ ” Dale echoed with a dramatic flourish, raising a brow and leaning over a bit. “Because when I walked in he was an ‘old friend’.” He paused, expression turning from teasing to serious. "I didn't interrupt anything, did I? You guys weren't just being nice, right?"

"No, no," Ethari chuckled softly. "It was… just nothing I guess. I don't know. It's… complicated?" He sighed, allowing a small frown to reveal some of his disappointment. "Let's just go before we're both late."

The rain passed by the time Ethari's shift was over. Dale had offered to drive Ethari home and Ethari had accepted, feeling too tired to trudge all the way to his house. But this wasn't his house. 

"Dale…" Ethari began slowly, skeptically narrowing his eyes at the fast food place they were nearing.

Dale pulled to a stop in the parking lot and raised his hands off the wheel. "Okay, okay," He started, turning to Ethari. "If you want to go straight home, just say the word and we'll go. _But_ , I know you skipped lunch today and I know you're still ruffled about this morning-"

"Ruffled?"

" _So_ ," Dale gestured to the drive-through, "I thought we could grab something to eat. If you want to, of course. I can take you straight home afterward, _or_ we can go to the park to eat and you can lament your internal struggle."

Ethari watched his friend for a moment who patiently waited for his answer. His head was such a mess, had become a mess since the day he encountered MothMan, and though the Runaan thing was also poking at him he hadn't considered discussing his "internal struggle" with anyone.

"The Safe Park," Ethari answered after a minute. "No bugs."

Dale's brows rose in surprise but he quickly nodded, gaining a serious expression and putting the car back into drive.

The Safe Park was one of the few places in the city without any bugs or other forms of surveillance interlaced throughout it's being. Sure there was plenty of patrol circling the area, but if one were to leave their phone in the car and head into the section of park that was made secluded by a hefty amount of trees, they would get a sense of solitude and privacy that couldn't be found elsewhere in the city.

"So we went to college together, right?" Ethari began once they had taken a seat at a bench nestled into some part of the wooded area of the park. 

"Right." Dale nodded.

"So one day he and his friends just disappear, I didn't realize it 'til I saw the missing person's report on the news…" He picked at the paper wrapping on his cheeseburger. "I thought he just stood me up, went to some party with his buddies then they woke up too hungover to come to class the next day." He let out an empty laugh, absently fiddling with the wrapping until a scrap of paper tore free. "Nobody seemed to notice they were gone." He stared at the paper scrap.

"Jesus, Ethari…" Dale breathed, eyes searching his face. "Are you sure this is him? Did he have any siblings? A cousin?"

"I know it's him, Dale," Ethari shook his head. "I know it." Ethari sighed, running his hand through his hair. "It's him, just… different."

"Different?"

"Well, for one his hair is way longer-"

"Like Rapunzel." Dale nodded sagely.

"Rapunzel has short hair." Ethari corrected, turning to his friend and furrowing his brows.

"She's Rapunzel, long hair is her thing."

"Yeah, but it gets cut short by the end of the movie."

"Yeah, and then it grows back in the cartoon. I have a niece, Ethari, I know these things."

"Fine, he's Rapunzel." Ethari relented, tossing up his hands.

"Is his hair really bothering you? People grow out their hair all the time."

"I'm not upset about his hair, Dale! This isn't a hair thing!"

"Then what is it?"

Ethari hesitated a moment, searching for the right words. "He… lost some weight?" He said slowly, tapping his right arm.

Dale's eyes widened. "Shit…"

"After the cafe, I ran into him at the library, he said his friends were alive too, the ones who disappeared with him."

"All of them?"

"Yep."

"How the…" Dale blinked, brows knitting together. "How does a group of people disappear and- and come back? Are you sure?"

"I don't know!" Ethari exclaimed, gripping his hair. "I'm so confused…"

"What the fuck is he doing in Elarion?" Dale questioned after a long moment of silence.

"His job, remember?"

"I mean-" Dale paused for a moment, waving his hands in a circular motion as he figured out his words. "If I somehow disappeared and came back, Elarion would be the last city on Earth you'd find me in."

"It's only temporary." Ethari frowned.

"I know you might not like this idea, but maybe that's a good thing. He could be part of some sort of protection program or something."

"I've never heard of a protection program for people who've disappeared," Ethari mumbled.

"Yes, but you've never heard of someone disappearing and coming back, either."

"I guess…" Ethari frowned at his cheeseburger before finally unwrapping it with a sigh. "I don't know what I was hoping for, I'm being an idiot, aren't I?"

Dale shrugged, tugging the paper back on his own burger. "It's a confusing thing to go through, to say the least. Maybe take some time to breathe so you can assess everything with a clear head when you're ready to."

"That's… a pretty good idea, actually." He gave a small smile. "Thanks."

Dale smiled back, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Don't sweat it." 


	2. Chapter 2

Runaan scanned the street below from his vantage point atop some multistory building. There were plenty of people, but nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye. He pushed himself to his feet and slowly lurked along the diameter of the roof. He was in the right spot, the Skywing chirping into his ear had done a thorough job of ensuring that.

"Do you see anything?" Ibis's voice asked once again through the communication enchantment on his earrings.

Runaan suppressed a heavy sigh. "No, not yet. Just because this is a Red Area doesn't mean we're bound to find something."

"I know," His voice replied.

"Mmhm…" Runaan grumbled, rubbing his temple.

He missed working missions with Lain and Tiadrin. He didn't really blame Ibis for his eagerness, a mage of his caliber and skillset was typically kept in Xadia, but this wasn't a typical mission so Ibis had been assigned to it. In short, there was a plentiful amount of excitement sources to someone who wasn't used to missions.

"You are on 54th Street, correct?" Ibis's voice filtered through his head once again.

"Yes," Runaan managed in an even tone, pursing his lips. "I am on 54th street."

Ibis hummed in thought through the communicator.

"I have been on 54th Street for the three hours. That has not changed."

Ibis no longer hummed.

"Maybe we should reassess our information," Runaan proposed with a no longer suppressed sigh. "We're going off of the E.D.C.'s and E.P.D.'S intel, and look how far they are from being close to stopping the dark mages here."

"Fair point," Ibis allowed. "However, we use a different algorithm than they do. Their intel isn't necessarily _bad_ \- though it could be better- they're just not using it right."

"If our algorithm is so much better than why have we had nothing but dead ends all week?" Runaan frowned, pacing back to the other end of the building.

"Well, it's like you said, isn't it? Not every trail leads to a finding. And it's like I said, too. The intel is _good_ , not _great_."

"Great…" Runaan huffed.

"We can go over the algorithm once you return if you'd like?" Ibis offered after a moment. "Perhaps we can find a way to improve-"

"No, it's fine. We use the algorithm for a reason: It works."

Another hum of thought. "I suppose I don't have the experience to argue against that, I'll trust your expertise."

"Mmhm," Runaan mumbled, attention being taken elsewhere. "I see the target."

" _The_ target?!" Ibis exclaimed.

"No, not him!" Runaan cringed from the sudden volume in his ears. "The- I see _a_ target."

As Ibis sighed something incoherent in relief, the soft green glow that had caught Runaan's attention flashed and disappeared.

"Shit."

"What is it?"

"You know…" Runaan began, steadying himself as the ground trembled and people screamed on the ground below. "There's not usually this much talking on stakeouts."

The ground burst open and a large charcoal-colored serpent rose from the ground, its eyes and belly glowing an acidic shade of green. The snake lunged at a retreating group of people and Runaan lept into action, launching himself off the building and creating a series of softly glowing transparent bows with arrows notched and drawn back. The arrows flew and berated the creature's hyde, a few lodging themselves in the occasional soft spot. Runaan kicked off the side of the building, interrupting his freefall and launching himself at the serpent. The snake turned and hissed, abandoning its initial prey in a fit of rage and changing its trajectory to attack the elf. The spawn lunged, and Runaan had to make a temporary platform to launch himself higher into the air and out of harm's way. Back above the rooftops, the serpent rose, opening its mouth to try and consume the Moonshadow. Runaan launched himself higher and higher into the air, morphing each platform into a sword or arrow and sending them flying into the creature's skin. The spawn growled, the sound sending vibrations through the air, and righted itself.

Runaan calmly stepped off another temporary platform, and with a swift gesture as he fell, a giant bow formed above the things head, a matching arrow forming shortly after. The arrow notched itself and drew back before shooting forward and plunging itself deep within the serpent's skull until its pointed end came out the creature's throat. The creature's movements came to a halt and a familiar crackling sound reached Runaan's ears. A final flower-like platform bloomed beneath Runaan's feet, allowing him to land softly on the ground as if he'd just stepped off an escalator. He surveyed the surrounding area, taking note of the few civilians who appeared to be too hurt to run, then turned back to the spawn and watched as its skin cracked open like rock, spits of electricity and goo spurting out until the creature burst into shimmering dust. Runaan hummed in satisfaction as a large, grotesque looking gem fell from the air and clattered against the asphalt a few meters away.

"Are you alright?" He asked, turning to where the small group of civilians was. Or, where they had been. "Oh."

_I guess they weren't that hurt after all. Good._

He turned back to the gem and-

"Son of a-" He dashed over, staring into a hole in the ground where the gem had just been.

_Did it reform? What kind of spell…_

A scream broke him out of his ponderings. With a mumbled spell, Runaan launched himself into the air with the aid of another transparent bloom. He quickly found his target- a smaller version of the spawn- and was upon the serpent, plunging a gleaming sword through it before the poor civilian could finish screaming, its fangs mere inches from their chest. The spawn burst into glittering dust once more and, this time, Runaan didn't hesitate to shatter the jewel that clattered on the ground. He breathed heavily as he rose to his feet, his sword disappearing, and ground the gem to dust under his foot. He frowned at it as it sputtered green flecks, scolding himself for being so careless.

 _You haven't been off the job for_ that _long, get it together._

The sound of a strangled breath reminded him of the citizen behind him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, working to even his breathing from the dash over despite half expecting to see the fellow scrambling away in the distance as he turned.

That was not what he saw.

His eyes fixed on the man staring up at him, his wide, brown eyes blazing like a chemical fire, wild and promising doom if he weren't careful, burning in the dieing light of the sun. Runaan's breath caught in his throat.

 _No,_ was all his mind supplied as he gaped at the painfully familiar face looking up at him, fearful and vulnerable. And then Ethari jumped in place upon the sidewalk, whirling around to try and find whatever had caused the elf to freeze up.

 _You're on the job!_ His mind screamed. _You're scaring him!_

He cleared his throat, and Ethari turned to face him once more.

"Are you, ah…" He fumbled for words. "Are you hurt?" His fingers twitched for his bow, anything to hold onto to squeeze out some of this anxious energy that was filling his chest like a running faucet.

"I'm fine!" Ethari gasped, gripping the scarf wrapped around his neck.

 _It's purple,_ some part of his mind noted. _It was green before_

"Good." He managed, giving a stiff nod.

_Did he get taller? Stop that, focus on your job!_

_...He didn't have glasses before, did he? Idiot, stay on task!_

"You should go." He blurted, two sides of his mind battling each other on what to concentrate on. He took a step backward, something tightening in his chest. "Bye."

And with that he turned and left, a series of temporary platforms blooming under his feet with each step, taking him higher into the air and further away from Ethari.

Both forces of his mind agreed on a single thought as he retreated: _Ethari almost died._

He hardly slept that night. His mind kept replaying that earlier encounter whenever he closed his eyes, and when he finally did drift off he dreamed of the last night he'd seen Ethari. He tossed and turned as, the dream warping the reality of what had happened in a smokey and suffocating way that was new despite the familiarity of it.

Several things pulled him out of his fitful sleep.

The first thing was Rayla's waling, coming from where her crib was nestled in the corner of the room. The second was a car alarm blaring from outside the apartment building- Which was probably what had upset Rayla. The third was a painful prickly, burning sensation in what used to be his left arm.

He blinked himself awake fully, feeling more tired than when he had fallen asleep, and gripped his shoulder with a sharp breath. It took him a moment, but he managed to sit up and get out of bed, making his way to his goddaughter's crib in the dark.

"Hey there," He murmured, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible despite the ongoing painful sensation he felt. "It's okay, sweetheart." He grimaced slightly as he bent over the side of the crib and scooped up the crying child in his arm, cradling her against his chest and swaying softly. "I know, I know, it's noisy here, isn't it?" 

He pressed a gentle kiss atop her head, considering finding whoever had the audacity to set off such a raucous car alarm right outside an apartment building in the middle of the night. Rayla sniffled and whimpered, balling up fistfuls of his sleep shirt in her tiny hands. He sighed, sitting on the edge of his bed and leaning back until he was laying down with Rayla atop his chest.

"It's okay, moondrop, you're alright." He rubbed her back, placing another kiss on her head. "I won't let anything happen to you."

The next day was full of recon. He and Ibis lurked around the city, familiarizing themselves with areas marked for potential spawn incidents. Fairly early into the day they stopped by a coffee shop. Rayla had somehow gotten entangled in her coat so they stopped outside the corner side cafe so that Runaan could free her and calm her down once. Ibis had received a file on his phone from one of his intel sources and had his nose in his screen by the time Rayla was content again. They went into the coffee, deciding to take a break from walking so that Ibis could read the file and Runaan could get something to help him feel more awake. The detour had been rather mundane until Runaan made a complete fool of himself.

Having gotten his drink, Runaan turned to head back to where Ibis was pouring over whatever info he'd been sent, but he only made it a few steps before something purple caught his eye.

_Ethari._

He stared, wide-eyed, finding his old classmate staring back with an equally shocked look.

 _Shit,_ was his only coherent thought until-

_Fuck!_

He tripped over his own feet, having been too preoccupied with staring to even stop himself from introducing his face to the linoleum. He had put his hand out to lessen the impact of his fall but that only made things all the more humiliating. The lid burst off of the cup in his hand and his drink splashed out both onto the floor and himself.

A few people dashed over and Runaan was suddenly highly aware of far more than one set of eyes locked on him.

"Runaan!" Ibis exclaimed, dropping his phone and dashing over as Runaan multitasked with getting up and getting several people to stop touching him. Ibis grabbed onto his arm with one hand, attempting to wave some of the patrons away as he steadied his teammate. "Runaan, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Runaan gritted, snatching a wad of napkins out of someone's hand with a huff and ignoring their concerned questions. "Let's go."

Ibis nodded, shrugging off his jacket and placing it around Runaan's shoulders. He thanked the people who had swarmed in an attempt to help, assuring them Runaan was okay as the coffee covered man lurked back to where Ibis had been sitting and unlocked the wheels of Raylas stroller. Ibis came over a moment later, gathering his things, and they made their way out the door. 

That was the last he saw of Ethari for a while. The days were going by rather uniformly, he would go to school and Ibis would meet with Elarion's police chief, then in the afternoon until late at night they would be doing recon or exterminating spawns. Today, however, Runaan made a detour by the library on his way home. He needed a textbook for one of his classes and he wasn't about to drop a ridiculous amount of money on some tome that was more useful as a weapon than an actual book. He was in the textbook aisle, searching for the book he needed when he heard someone say his name. Looking over, he saw Ethari standing at the end of the aisle, eyes wide.

"It is you!" He breathed.

Runaan fought every ounce of himself that urged him to backpedal away, get Rayla, and get the fuck out. But all he could do was stare and swallow, his mouth suddenly dry. Here he was again, and so close too.

Well, maybe not _that_ close, but he stood hardly more than a foot away, which was probably a bit awkward but that piece of information wasn't registering in Runaan's mind. No, his brain was too preoccupied with charting the details of Ethari's face and comparing them to his memory like notes.

_He looks tired._

"Oh-! I'm sorry," Ethari began, smiling sheepishly and pulling Runaan back to reality. "You probably don't remember me…" He rubbed the back of his neck, the side of his crop top temporarily lifting.

_Fuck._

"No, I-" Runaan began before he could stop himself. _I what? I can't be talking to you? I thought I'd never see you again? I am freaking out right now?_ He was about to slam his mouth shut and give some excuse to leave, but the look in Ethari's eyes… _Fuck, I can't even look at him…_ Guilt bubbled up in him like a vengeful spirit. He forced himself into motion and turned his head away, staring at some fraying piece of carpet instead. "Hello, Ethari…"

Ethari gasped- fucking _gasped_ \- ever so softly, and something in Runaans chest twisted. Half his mind screamed to leave, the other half begged him to stay.

"It…" Ethari began softly. "It's good to see you again. How are you?"

He was so busy battling with himself that he hardly registered Ethari's words. "Uh, you know…" Runaan managed with a halfhearted shrug, gesturing vaguely. He was now watching a cricket wander across the floor toward a web under one of the bookshelves. _Other way, Jiminy, you're heading for a spider's trap._

"I thought that was you at the coffee shop the other day but I wasn't sure, I'm sorry if I weirded you out."

 _Weirded me out? No, you startled me, short-circuited my brain. Why do you still do that?_

Runaan managed a proper shrug.

"Is that your kid?"

Runaan blinked a few times and turned toward the stroller. He couldn't help but smile briefly as he held his hand out and watched Rayla's little hands reach up and grasp his fingers. "My goddaughter."

"Your goddaughter?" Ethari moved to get a better view. "Aw, she's adorable! What's her name?"

"Rayla." Runaan managed with considerable smoothness despite the alarms blaring in his head from their increased proximity.

"Aw, hello Rayla!" Ethari cooed, smiling warmly.

Rayla scrunched up her face skeptically, observing this new stranger for a moment before relaxing, babbling and stuffing a wad of her blanket into her mouth.

"Who's little one is she?" Ethari asked with a soft chuckle as Rayla began gnawing on the blanket.

Runaan plucked a pacifier from where it had been abandoned and tried to offer it to Rayla in trade of the blanket. The offer was ignored.

"That fellow you were with?" Ethari continued.

"Fellow?" Runaan repeated, taking a moment to process the question. "Oh, no, she's Lain and Tiadrins child."

Ethari's eyes widened, his mouth parting but no words coming out as he stared at Runaan.

 _Selfish,_ his mind supplied. _You're being selfish, Runaan. He was their friend._

There was another twist in his chest, part numb and part more painful than the first.

_He looks tired…_

Ethari seemed stuck, having been quiet for a moment now. Runaan didn't trust his voice enough to end or continue the conversation so he just quirked a brow at the other, hoping that would prompt a response.

"That's… amazing," Ethari finally said, smiling breathlessly. "I'm so happy for them."

Runaan nodded and gave a hum, the thing in his chest continuing to writhe.

"So…" Ethari began after a moment.

_No. No, just leave. Please leave. One of us has to. I don't know if I can._

Runaan went back to watching Rayla, finding himself unable to look at Ethari again.

"Was that your friend at the coffee shop?" Ethari asked. "Boyfriend?"

Runaan turned his head to look at him so fast that his ponytail smacked the bookshelf. " _Ibis?_ Moon above, no. He's… a colleague. We're roommates, he helps me look after Rayla."

"Oh, that's nice. Do you two babysit for Lain and Tiadrin?"

"Ah, they…" He trailed off, his eyes drifting to his goddaughter as if she'd give him a viable lie. _They what? Work in a Xadian castle for a dragon?_ "They're on a business trip."

"Oh? What do they do?"

"They're… bodyguards."

"Bodyguards? Sounds intense."

"You have no idea…" Runaan muttered.

Ethari chuckled and another moment of silence fell between them, but Ethari broke the quiet once again. "I… It's good to know you guys are alright."

Runaan couldn't help but look at him then, to search his face, his eyes, that smile. The thing in his chest churned and cried feebly.

_What am I doing? I shouldn't be here, shouldn't be talking to him. What am I doing?_

"I have to go." He said, turning and unlocking the wheels of Rayla's stroller before swiftly walking away, not daring to wait for the others response.

"Oh-" Ethari stammered. "See you!"

His feet hesitated at the end of the aisle. He didn't want to leave like this, but what was he supposed to do? The best remedy for this situation would be for them to never see each other again. He took a deep breath and forced himself into motion again, making his way to the exit.

_It's good to know you're alright too…_

It was raining. The sky had torn open and drenched the earth in sheets of icy water. Runaan was studying in the corner side cafe when the downpour started. One of his professors had canceled today's class so he had time to kill before meeting up with Ibis. He was currently switching between two notebooks, one for actual classwork and another for brainstorming ways to improve the security of the apartment that was currently playing the role of HQ for the Xadian mages.

He took a sip of his coffee, making a mental note to properly map out the apartment to ensure nothing was missed. The cafe was fairly quiet today, most of the city's residents were probably hiding in their homes, or some other place the wind and rain couldn't reach. He turned the page of his brainstorming notebook and watched a bolt of lightning dance across the sky.

_Ibis must be loving this._

Thunder cried out and the wind howled and Runaans thoughts trailed to someone else. Rayla didn't like water in the slightest, storms were a close second, though they bothered her less when she was inside where the rain couldn't get to her. It was rather convenient that the apartment had minimal windows, not only did it lower the number of security risks, but it also made it easier to get Rayla away from most of the noise and lights of the city and its storms. He'd been worried about bringing her here- for multiple reasons- and the difference between a large city like Elarion and the far quieter and more organized Xadia was one of them. There had been a bit of an adjusting period, both Runaan and Ibis fumbling about in attempts to make everything as far from overwhelming as possible for her, but Rayla was doing much better now. She still threw the occasional fit when she encountered something unknown, but the most common things she no longer detested. Meeting people was one of those things. She continued to look at humans oddly upon first meeting them, probably trying to figure out where their horns were or why their ears were round or why they had an extra finger, but she no longer screamed and cried.

Runaan frowned, taking another drink from his coffee and trying to focus on the ambient sounds of the coffee shop instead of the wails in his memory from the first time Rayla had seen his human form.

"Name?" He heard the barista ask.

"Ethari." The reply came.

Runaan choked on his coffee. Turning his head so quick a small crack emanated from the back of his neck, he stared wide-eyed in a mix of awe and horror. There he was _again_. Ethari stood near the counter, typing something on his phone and soaking wet, his white crop top now slightly see-through and clinging to his glistening skin.

_When did he get so ripped…_

Runaan bit his lip, mind fumbling for a useful thought. He was in the process of coming up with a vague escape plan when Ethari pocketed his phone and looked over. Runaan flinched, turning back to his notebooks and feeling his face heat up.

_Shit._

"Hey," Ethari said a moment later, now standing by his table.

 _Fuck._ This wasn't good. Why did they have to keep running into each other? Did some cosmic entity enjoy watching him squirm? He debated giving Ethari the cold shoulder, anything to get him to leave, but then he glanced at Ethari and that _stupid_ grin of his and the cosmic entity won.

"Hey…" He replied, turning to look out the window.

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" Ethari asked hesitantly, fidgeting in his peripheral vision.

That uncertain, almost guilty note in his voice set the pitiful beast in Runaan's chest writhing again. He set his jaw, taking a few steadying breaths.

 _Stop it, you're being an idiot,_ He scolded himself. _You can't be talking to him. You're breaking the rules._

"No," He finally answered, struggling to find his voice. His hand found his pen and he turned his head to stare intensely at his notes. 

"Uhm…" Ethari began softly. "I'm sorry if I said something to upset you at the library the other day, I-"

"It's fine." Runaan cut him off a bit roughly, gripping his pen with unnecessary force.

_Don't apologize. Please don't._

"Uh, what are you working on?"

Runaan shifted, rereading the text scrawled in his notebook in an attempt to remember what he'd been doing moments ago.

"English." He replied lamely.

"English?" Ethari repeated as Runaan mentally slammed his head in a car door.

"Yes, I…" Runaan began, struggling for words. He couldn't give him too much information. "School." 

He closed his eyes, giving the car door in his mind a few more generous slams. Ethari chuckled softly beside him, and Runaan found himself momentarily forgetting to breathe. He wasn't sure why, he'd heard Ethari chuckle plenty of times before, had heard him laugh, but there was just something about it that made everything else seem to fade away for a moment.

A memory of burnt food and warm cola swam to the forefront of his mind. He could almost smell the smoke from the failed barbeque, see Ethari's smile, hear his laugh. 

_I want to hear him laugh again._

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times in an attempt to chase off the odd thought.

"School, eh?" Ethari asked, smiling easily. "What for?"

"I, uh…" He struggled for words, the thing in his chest throwing a tantrum and wailing miserably in torment. "Never exactly got my degree." He finished. 

A long silence fell between them and Runaan shifted in his seat, feeling Ethari's eyes on him. 

_That was the wrong answer. That was the wrong thing to say._

He shifted once more before hesitantly looking up at Ethari, studying his hard to read expression.

"Uh-" Ethari began, blinking to life.

"Ethari!" The barista called.

Runaan slowly looked to the barista, the thing in his chest dieing and fading away in odd defeat. He swallowed, bracing himself as he looked at Ethari again. This had to be it, it had to be goodbye for good.

"See you around." He said softly, eyes back on his paper, an empty place in chest where the strange fibbing creature had passed.

"Actually," Ethari blurted. "I'm waiting for a ride. Would, uhm, would it be okay if..?"

Runaan glanced up to see Ethari gesturing at the other end of the small table. He looked at the empty chair, his brain slowly processing Ethari's question.

"I, uh-" He began. _No. There's plenty of open seats. Say no._ "Sure." 

_Goddamnit._

"Sure." Ethari breathed, then winced. "I mean- Thanks."

Runaan nodded, doing his best not to look at Ethari while he berated himself internally.

Ethari headed to the counter and returned a moment later, sliding into the empty seat. "I wonder how long the rain will last," He pondered aloud, gazing out the tall window. "The weather report said the storm would pass us."

Runaan hummed, shifting in his seat anxiously as he joined Ethari in looking through the glass, gaze drifting across the street. "In my experience, the weather report is usually wrong. Anyone could have seen this storm coming."

"Heh, yeah…" Ethari smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I should've took an umbrella before leaving the house."

"Are you running late for something?" Runaan asked, eyes back on him. Regret slammed into him as Ethari looked back with that easy smile. He dodged his gaze and went back to staring at his notebook. 

"Nah, not yet," Ethari replied. "I usually walk to work so I leave early in case something happens."

"There's a lot of _something's_ in this city." Runaan muttered.

"Yeah…"

There was a moment of silence.

"So, do you come to this place a lot?" Ethari spoke up.

"I suppose," Runaan scanned the room. "It's on the way to school and not too far from the apartment."

"Convenient." Ethari noted with a nod. "Which college-"

"Ethari," A voice called out. "You're soaked to the bone! 

Runaan turned to see a middle-aged man approaching their table. His hair was dark brown with streaks of grey and white- most likely from age, and he wore faded jeans and a heavy coat. His green eyes swept over Ethari before landing on Runaan.

"Wow," Ethari blinked. "You work fast."

"I was in the area when you texted," The man replied, smoothing back loose locks of hair with his hand that wasn't occupied with an umbrella. The motion pulled at his coat sleeve, revealing a small tattoo on his wrist that Runaan couldn't make out. The man switched his gaze from Ethari to Runaan then back again, raising an expectant brow.

"Ah," Ethari blinked once more, turning to Runaan and gesturing to the man. "Runaan, this is my friend Dale, he works at the repair shop with me." He turned to the man- _Dale_ and gestured to Runaan. "Dale, this is Runaan, he's an old friend."

 _Old friend?_ Something in Runaan's chest flitted at that, but he did his best to ignore it and focus on his new acquaintance.

"A pleasure." He said, offering his hand.

"Likewise." Dale grinned, gripping his hand tightly and giving it a hefty shake.

Runaan's mind fumbled for a moment. Was that meant as a warning, or was the man just friendly or unaware of his own strength?

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Dale continued, releasing Runaan's hand. "But I'd like to get going before the rain starts up again." 

"Starts up again?" Ethari repeated. "This is what not-started up looks like?"

"Does it usually storm like this in Elarion?" Runaan murmured, not wanting to interrupt but genuinely curious. The city seemed to possess rather odd weather patterns, and he'd hardly been here a month.

"It comes in spells," Dale shrugged. "The weather can be a bit unpredictable."

"That's true for anywhere in Ohio." Ethari pointed out, taking a sip of his drink.

Runaan hummed in thought. "Sounds exciting."

"Are you new here?" Dale asked, raising a brow.

"I just moved here," Runaan nodded. "Temporary relocation for work."

"Temporary?" Ethari echoed, a look of concern crossing his face. "When are you going back?"

Runaan could only look at him for a moment before he had to go back to staring at his paper. "Uhm… Ideally in a month if everything goes well, maybe a week or so longer."

"A month…" Ethari murmured. "That doesn't leave much longer, does it?"

Runaan glanced up to him and shrugged.

_Please don't be disappointed. This is good. The less I'm in your life the better. The less you remember me the better._

"Could I borrow those?" Ethari asked after a moment of silence, pointing to his notebook and pen.

Runaan looked up from his notebook, eyebrows raising. He glanced between Ethari and the materials before reluctantly nodding, pushing his English notebook across the small table's surface and placing his pen on top. Ethari flipped the notebook to a blank page and scribbled something in before returning the items.

"Here," He said, smiling softly. "I'd like to stay in touch this round." A pause. "If that's alright, of course."

Runaan stared at the looping writing in horror.

_No, it's not alright! Bad. Bad Runaan. I should have left the second I noticed him._

His mind scrambled for the next thing to do.

_Burn it._

He swallowed, dread filling him like water in a vase. He slowly tore his eyes away from the paper to see Ethari looking at him hopefully. He clenched his jaw and looked out the window.

"You're going to be late." He finally said.

"Oh." Ethari replied, hurt evident in his voice. "Right, you're right." He cleared his throat and slid out of the chair, drying off his seat with some napkins before grabbing his drink. "See ya."

Runaan quietly inhaled and held his breath, only releasing it when he glimpsed Ethari riding past in a black car that drove out of sight.

He went back to the apartment, lest he ran into someone else he knew. His mind was still fumbling from his encounter with Ethari so he looked for something to distract himself until he had some time to properly clear his mind. He was sitting on the couch, working on his book report when Ibis returned.

"Have you seen the sky today?" The Skywing grinned breathlessly, eyeing the window above the couch.

Runaan hummed, the corner of his mouth twitching momentarily into a knowing smirk as he turned and tugged the curtains open to let the other see outside. Rain pummeled the glass, creating a clamorous song of water and thunder.

"We never have storms like this in Xadia…" Ibis murmured, kneeling on the other end of the couch with his hands resting on top. "Well, in some areas there are nice storms, but nothing like this happens at the Storm Spire. Not usually, at least."

"Really?" Runaan quirked a brow, turning back to his laptop. "I figured a place would have to earn a name like 'Storm Spire'."

"Is the Moon Nexus on the moon?" Ibis smirked, raising a brow at his teammate.

Runaan stared at him for a minute. "I… _Is it_?"

"I-" Ibis blinked a few times, opening his mouth once before shutting it again. "No, it's not." He gave a curious but kind smile, turning to sit properly on the couch.

The two had quite different backgrounds, their Class in Xadia being only part of it. Ibis was in the Healer Class and Runaan in the Fighter Class. Xadia didn't exactly have a standard education system, what each Xadian learned depended greatly on their Class and where their job would send them. Outside of that, Runaan had an inkling that Ibis had been recruited before he was. Besides the occasional odd comment or question, there was just something about the way the Skywing looked at the human world…

"What are you working on?" Ibis asked, loosening his tie.

"English." Runaan frowned. "Book report."

"Oh? What book?" Ibis leaned over a little to try and glimpse the computer screen.

"Frankenstein." Runaan replied, tossing the book into his teammates lap.

Ibis picked it up, turning it in his hands with a curious expression before studying the cover, brows furrowing. "He's green."

Runaan hummed with a nod. "Green on the cover, not in the book."

"Why only on the cover?"

"Marketing?" Runaan shrugged.

Ibis cocked his head and turned the book over, reading the back cover. "'Brilliant and quirky'." He read aloud. "'Literary classic'." He frowned and looked back to Runaan, brows furrowed. "There's no description."

"Marketing." Runaan repeated, closing his tabs and shutting the laptop. "It's about this scientist who brings someone back from the dead then treats them horribly, so the undead man kills the scientist's love interest and then the scientist I think. I don't know, I haven't finished it."

Ibis stared at Runaan for a moment with the same complexed expression. "Huh." A pause. "You're writing a report on a book you haven't finished?"

"Do we have a designated Red Area for today?" Runaan asked, tucking the laptop under his arm and making his way to the kitchen table where he had left his bag. His notebooks and some pens laid out from when he'd tried to brainstorm more ways to boost security in their apartment after returning frmo the cafe. He set the laptop down to tug his bag open further before half-gracefully stuffing the laptop in.

"Yes," Ibis answered, following him over. "A place on Blues Avenue." He held the bag open with one hand to grant Runaan easier access and tucked a few pens into one of its pockets with his other. "Some business called-" He reached for the English notebook.

"Don't touch that!" Runaan snapped, swiping it out of Ibis' hand with far too much force, the back cover taring partially at the binding.

Ibis froze, that dumb expression he made when surprised claiming his face. His brows rose and his eyes widened, his lips forming a half-pucker half-frown. He blinked a few times, eyes fluttering to the notebook as he slowly opened his mouth. "Called the Down Club." He finally finished, a brow slowly raising as he watched Runaan aggressively pack his bag and sling it over his shoulder.

"Got it," Runaan replied, briskly walking into his room. He tossed his bag onto his bed and trifled through it, retrieving the English notebook. He flipped through, gripping the edge of the page with Etharis name and contact information on it and tearing. He stuffed the torn-off slip into his pocket and returned the items to the bag before swiftly walking out. "I'll go check it out."

He meant to throw it out, that piece of paper, he really did. But he couldn't bring himself to touch it again. Having it anywhere near his person felt incriminating enough. Such a thing, a stupidly simple thing nonetheless, could spell a world of trouble. He had to get rid of it, it wasn't even a question. The paper burned a hole in his pocket and singed his fingertips as he ran them over its edges. He eyed a trash bin as he walked.

_This is the right thing to do. It's been hours since I saw him and I still haven't gotten rid of it._

He narrowed his eyes at the trash and straightened his shoulders before walking over. His hand slipped further into his pocket, wrapping around the paper. And then he froze. The paper no longer burned, it felt cold. He took a deep breath, bringing it out of his pocket and holding it over the mouth of the trash bin with a clenched fist.

_Just let go._

He watched the rain hit the back of his hand and run down it, stretching to reach the crumpled paper within his grip.

_Just let go._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING!!!   
> This chapter contains blood and limb loss and other gross stuff!   
> This chapter is a flashback to the last day Runaan saw Ethari/the day Runaan lost his arm, I sectioned off the battle where this happens with ----- before and after the scene so feel free to skip!!!   
> Everything before the first ----- has zero injuries and etc. and everything after the second ----- is basically the Moonshadow trio being taken to Xadia's equivalent of ICU, so while everything after the second ----- doesn't have the "how it happened" there is descriptions of injury!

Looking at Ethari was like looking at the sun, Runaan decided. It fucking  _ hurt _ .

"You should just talk to him," Lain suggested for what was probably the thousandth time.

"Pass," Runaan replied in a heartbeat, tightening his grip on his backpack straps.

"Just go over and say hi!" Lain laughed lightheartedly. "What could possibly happen?"

"Many things," Runaan answered, turning to his friend with wide eyes and his brows raised. "Would you like to hear the list?"

"Fuck, you're hopeless." Tiadrin sighed, rubbing her temple.

"Tiadrin," Lain scolded gently. "What did we talk about?"

"You totally have a shot, Runaan, especially if you keep avoiding him like the plague." Tiadrin gave him a thumbs up and a sarcastic smile.

"That's not supportive, babe." Lain pouted.

"It's true." Runaan frowned, tucking a lock of hair behind his ear.

"See? He's self-aware!" Tiadrin looped around her boyfriend and took Runaan's hand in her own, grinning mischievously. "That's why he should ask him to a party."

A memory of Ethari dancing in a dimly lit crowded room flooded Runaan's mind, his body moving and his hips swaying to the music, his skin sweaty and almost glistening in the colored light, one hand moving along his waist and the other in his hair, or both in the air as he jumped and moved to a faster-paced song, muscles working under his dark skin-

"That's worse than Lain's talking idea." Runaan managed after swallowing, his mouth suddenly dry.

"That's a great idea!" Lian smiled eagerly, wrapping his arms around Runaan's bicep.

"Bad idea," Runaan repeated.

"Look, there he is." Tiadrin grinned.

Runaan flinched and made to pivot away and retreat, but his so-called friends both had his arms firmly in their grasp and forbade him from fleeing.

"Shit, you have it bad…" Tiadrin snickered as she and Lain all but dragged Runaan into their shared classroom.

"Ethari!" Lain greeted once they were in earshot, mercifully leaving Tiadrin and Runaan to run over and chat with Ethari on his own.

Runaan skulked toward his usual seat in the back of the classroom, Tiadrin at his side.

"Rachel's throwing a party this weekend." She said, nudging his arm.

"Rachel's a cunt and we're on a job," Runaan reminded. "We don't have time to fraternize with civilians."

"But we  _ do  _ have time to get shitfaced and trash a cunts house." She grinned.

Runaan raised a brow, humming in thought. "Perhaps."

"Alright, that's pretty much it for today." Their professor declared, shutting her textbook. "I put your partners for next week's project up on the board, make sure to get in touch with your partner before Monday." She waved half-heartedly towards the door. "Now go, be free."

Students began packing their things and making their way to the whiteboard where several pieces of paper were posted. The Moonshadow trio took their time packing their things, waiting for the initial rush of those eager to leave to pass. Ethari was amongst that group, though he made no effort to leave and was instead chatting with a few classmates. He smiled easily, one hand fidgeting with the end of his scarf as he talked.

_ Cute. _

Runaan sighed internally, cursing himself for being so enamored with a human of all people.

_ At least he's not a dark mage. _

He turned his attention back to his belongings, putting his things back in his bag and zipping it shut, but he soon found his eyes on Ethari once more. The other was still rambling happily, probably about his latest crafting or mechanical project, a smile on his face and a spark in his eye.

_ I need to get over this. We don't even have anything in common. He's so funny and creative and smart and kind. Look at him, he loves talking to people. I never know the right thing to say, can never carry a conversation... Damn, he talks a lot. _

A wistful smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he watched Ethari continue to rant to his friends who were walking away and no longer paying attention. 

_ I'd listen to him all day if he wanted. _

He watched as Ethari waved, having not moved an inch despite his friends heading out the door. Instead, he turned, his eyes moving to the back of the room. Runaan furrowed his brows, turning to try and glimpse whatever he was looking at. He only saw the back wall though. He blinked and looked side to side, finally noticing the back row was completely empty, his friends having left him to pine while they went to see who their assigned partner was. Slowly, Runaan turned back to see Ethari still looking at  _ him _ , not someone or something else, an easy smile on his face. Runaan's eyes widened, heat rising in his cheeks that was no doubt visible. He lowered his head, eyes burning holes in the floor as he mentally cursed himself once more.

After a minute he reluctantly made his way down to the front of the classroom, taking out his phone and taping at its blank screen in an attempt to look preoccupied for the sake of not having to interact with anyone- the guy he just got caught staring at in particular.

"Runaan," Tiadrins voice called out, sounding oddly sing-song like.

He looked up from his phone to see her villainous grin, Lain standing next to her with an eager smile.

"Look who you got paired up with!" Lain cheered in an excited whisper, hand cupping the side of his mouth.

Runaan hesitantly made his way over to the whiteboard, eyes trailing down the lists until he found his own name next to-

_ Oh shit. _

He flinched, turning to see Ethari approaching him.

_ Shit. Fuck. How. Why. _

"Hey,” The man grinned. “We got paired up."

"Yep," Runaan blurted, doing his best to ignore Tiadrins snickering. "Sure did."

"Do you want to meet up later to get a head start?" Ethari asked, that friendly smile never fading.

A million thoughts ran through his head, their letters mixing into an incoherent mess. "O...okay."

Ethari's smile broadened, and Runaan swore he was going to shrivel up and die in the warmth it gave off.

"Awesome!" Ethari tugged out his phone and offered it to him. "I have to head to my next class but I can text you after so we can work out the details. That okay?"

Runaan stared at the other's cellphone for what was probably too long. 

"Okay…" He finally answered, hesitantly taking the phone and typing his number in on the blank contact screen Ethari had pulled up. He swallowed, feeling the heat remain in his cheeks as he handed Ethari's phone back, keeping his gaze on the ground.

Ethari took his phone and finished saving the contact before pausing, eyes focusing on something on the screen. "You need a photo."

"A what?" Runaan asked, blinking dumbly as he tore his eyes off the ground.

"A contact photo," Ethari clarified, showing his screen to Runaan and pointing at the default profile picture that hovered above his name and number.

"Oh."

Ethari turned the screen back to himself and taped open the camera app, aiming its lense at Runaan. "Say cheese!"

Runaan stared.

Ethari waited a moment, finger hovering above the device before he lowered his phone a bit. "I… don't have to take your picture if you don't want me to. I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry." He gave an apologetic smile.

Runaan blinked back to life, watching in mild horror as Ethari slipped his phone back into his pocket and began making his way toward the door.

"I'll text you later, 'kay?" He said with a wave. "You can pick where we meet."

Runaan stared as Ethari arrived at the door, hand reaching for the knob. He'd be gone in seconds, and Runaan had ruined a perfect opportunity to talk with him. His mind scrambled, searching desperately for a way to save this.

"Ethari!" He called out with a bit more volume than necessary for a now empty classroom.

Ethari paused, the door half-open as he turned back to Runaan. "Yeah?"

"You haven't given me your number yet." Runaan held up his own phone as if to show proof.

Ethari stared for a moment, confused expression swapping out for another smile as his brows lifted. He walked over and took Runaan's phone, creating himself a contact. When his name and number had been transcribed, Runaan reached to take his phone back, but Ethari raised it into the air before he could grab it, doing a peace sign with his free hand and sticking his tongue out with a grin before winking at the camera. He lowered the phone, examining the picture he'd taken before nodding in approval and hitting save with a satisfied look.

"There," He smiled, handing the phone back to Runaan. “See you around.”

He turned, waving over his shoulder before disappearing out the door.

"See ya." Runaan waved with a dazed feeling of accomplishment and hopefulness swirling in his chest.

"Runaan!" Lain cried, suddenly at his side and viciously shaking him by the shoulder. "That was like, at least five words! You actually spoke to him!"

"Kind of." Tiadrin countered, plucking Runaan's phone from his hands to look at Ethari's contact with a raised brow.

"About damn time." A fourth voice grumbled, and the trio turned to see their teacher shake her head in exasperation.

Runaan fidgeted in his seat, thumb hovering above the send button. The picture had taken him far too long to take and he had deleted and rewritten the message nearly a hundred times, after the first five minutes he stopped paying attention to how long he'd been contemplating this. Taking a deep breath, he finally hit send on the selfie he'd taken mimicking the one Ethari had snapped on his phone, and sent the words: _Picture for a picture. Sorry, guess I'm camera shy? :P_

He turned his phone off and released the breath he'd been holding, took a moment to let his shoulders relax, then scrambled to try and unsend the texts.

_ LOL cute!  _ Ethari's reply appeared, causing Runaan to nearly throw his phone. He fidgeted in his seat as two more messages popped up.  _ And don’t sweat it. You decide on a place to meet up? _

Runaan leaned closer to his phone, rereading the text and feeling his cheeks heat up again. _"_ _ C ute"  _ h is mind repeated. He ducked his head, squeezing his phone and suppressing whatever noise was bubbling up in his throat. Then a realization hit him.  _ I never thought of a place for us to meet. _

He straightened his posture, narrowing his eyes at Ethari's contact picture as he ran through a list of nearby places and compared them to things he knew Ethari liked.

_ Sushi? _ He finally asked.  _ I know a place on Main Street. _

_Sounds great!_ 🤤🤤🤤 Ethari replied. _When do you wanna meet?_

Runaan paused, running through his options before responding.  _ How about tonight? _

He thought he'd fucked up, had sounded too eager or something, but an agonizing minute later Ethari replied with:  _ How's 7? _

Runaan blinked, relief filling his chest.  _ 7 sounds great. _

_ Awesome! See you then!  _ 😄

Runaan exhaled heavily, holding his phone to his chest and allowing himself to finally breathe.

“Jesus, I thought you were going to stab someone from that look on your face." Tiadrin confessed, looking Runaan over with a raised brow from where she sat on the other end of the couch.

Runaan blinked, lowering his phone and clearing his throat. "Sorry."

"What were you doing?" She leaned over, eyeing his phone while a smirk played with her lips.

"I…" Runaan looked back to his phone for a moment before a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I was texting Ethari." He turned to his friend and gave her a triumphant grin.

"You  _ what _ ?!" Lain hollered, stumbling out of the other room.

"Really? Good for you." She congratulated, joshing his shoulder before her boyfriend plunked himself onto the couch between them.

"How'd it go?" Lain pressed, on the edge of his seat despite being right next to Runaan.

"Uhm, good I think?" Runaan answered, his feeling of self-accomplishment fading away into uncertainty. "Maybe?"

Lain’s face switched from excited to deathly serious. "Let me see."

Runaan forked over his phone and they both scooted closer to each other, hovering over the screen and reading the messages, then rereading them once more.

"If we're making a big deal out of this I want to see too!" Tiadrin huffed, snatching the phone from her boyfriend and scrolling through the conversation.

"He called you cute," Lain cheered. "That's good!"

Runaan felt his cheeks heat up once more. "G-good." He managed with a nod, running his fingers through the end of his braid.

"Camera shy," Tiadrin chuckled, reading over the messages. “Nice.”

Runaan couldn’t help but return her smirk. That morning a talk show had come on the TV, the hosts debating and theorizing different reasons no one knew what magical girls looked like and why no clear image of them existed. They had shown examples, one of which being a low quality image of the Moonshadow trio from their last job. They had been fully aware the image was being taken, the photographer being astoundingly reckless and charging them with an odd sort of battle cry. Tiadrin had begun drawing a rune in the air to cast a sleep spell, but the photographer's camera had already been snapping away numerous images, so before the fellow collapsed on the ground in sudden sleep, Lain struck a pose and Runaan held his hand out in an attempt to avoid being in the pictures. The image looked rather ridiculous and had given them a good laugh.

"Do you know what you're going to wear?" Lain asked, that eager grin back. "What you'll do with your hair?"

"I…" Runaan trailed off, brows furrowing in thought as he considered the questions.

"It's not a date, Lain," Tiadrin pointed out. "They're just meeting up to do classwork."

"It's  _ like _ a date," Lain protested. "And it could turn into one with the right energy!"

"I-" Runaan stuttered, urging the heat in his cheeks to stay away for good.

"It's not a date," Tiadrin repeated. "And it's scheduled in the middle of tonight's run."

"What?" Runaan spluttered, reclaiming his phone and reading the messages again. They usually began their sweep of the city around five, and in his moment of relief, Runaan had agreed to meet up with Ethari at seven without a second thought. "Shit, I… I'll reschedule."

"Hold on a minute," Lain interjected, taking back Runaan's phone. "Tiadrin, we  _ just _ took care of a  _ huge _ spawn, no one's going to try anything big for a few nights! Can't we just let him have this?" He held the phone beneath his chin and gave his girlfriend his best puppy dog eyes.

Tiadrin sighed, leaning back into the couch. "I'm not trying to be a downer, I'm just saying we're supposed to prioritize our work, not human boys. It's important"

"Boys are important, I agree." Lain nodded. 

"Our  _ job _ is important," Tiadrin corrected. "And even if romance were more important, Humans and Xadians can't fall in love. We have rules, Lain."

"She's right," Runaan agreed, but before he could say anything else Lain placed a finger to his lips.

"Hush, sweetheart, the grownups are talking." Lain hummed, turning back to Tiadrin. "Can't he just have this? You'll break his little gay heart!"

"I'll break your little straight-" Runaan grumbled, being cut off once again by a second hushing.

"Tiadrin, do you know why we're here?"

"Because we're good at what we do," She replied with a confident air of factuality. "The best of our class."

"No, I mean _ here _ , in this dorm room."

"Because we need a roof over our heads?" She quirked a brow.

"No, because we're young. We're young and learning and growing, that's why we're here. We need life experiences to learn and grow from. The world holds countless lessons, and the most important one is the lesson of love-"

"Jesus christ…"

"It's true!" Lain huffed, looking a bit hurt. "Love is the most important lesson of them all and you know it."

Tiadrin stared him down for a long moment, eyes narrowed and jaw set. The room was quiet except for the ticking of a clock, the sound nearly inaudible in the wake of the gears in Tiadrins head turning, working out possible outcomes and scenarios, weighing the pros and cons of each possible reply.

"Runaan," She finally said, shifting her gaze to the other man.

"Oh, am I allowed to speak now?" Runaan quipped, shooting Lain a look.

"Our job is important."

"I'm aware."

"It requires focus, a clear head."

"Yes-"

"If you go tonight, will it help you get over this phase?"

Runaan blinked, the question taking him off guard. He had been ready to trade his meetup with Ethari to focus on their work, but this question presented a concept that hadn't occurred to him before. 

_ Get over this…  _

"I…" Runaan began, the gears in his own head turning. He couldn't say why he'd become so infatuated with Ethari- Though maybe it had something to do with his smile or bold kind-heartedness or- 

This was far from a good thing. Ethari was a human and Runaan was a Xadian on the job, such an idea held a list of problems that continued far past what the eye could see. It was a phase, yes. It had to be. Runaan wasn't stupid, but he  _ was _ young, and young people had the infamous reputation of doing stupid things. He knew if he didn't go tonight it would bother him, he would feel bad for canceling on Ethari or hindering his schedule, but perhaps if he just went it'd help snap him out of this. But if he did go then Lain and Tiadrin would be on the job without him tonight. They were more than capable of taking care of themselves, but they were a team for a reason. The situation felt like a double-edged blade, that no matter what he did he would be cut. He furrowed his brows, frowning in thought. 

"Possibly," He finally answered. "But I can still reschedule tonight or just cancel. We're working on this project together, I'll be seeing him either way."

Lain covered his face and groaned.

"Then it's decided-" Tiadrin began.

"Wait!" Lain protested. "Hold on…" He rubbed the sides of his temples, face scrunching up in thought. "What if he just goes and joins us when they're done? The restaurant closes at ten and they're meeting at seven, they shouldn't need more time than that."

"Lain," Runaan sighed, pinching his brows. "It's fine, we've already decided."

"Fine," Lain narrowed his eyes in challenge. "Then talk to him. Tell him you're canceling."

Runaan scoffed, taking his phone and opening his conversation with Ethari once more.

"Are you going to call him?" Lain pressed. "Facetime?"

Runaan furrowed his brows. "I'm going to text him."

"Well, that's a bit cold." Lain murmured.

Runaan stared at Lain for a long moment, thumbs hovering above the keyboard. He knew what the other was doing, and, damn it, it was working. He slowly looked back to the screen, narrowing his eyes at it as if facing down an enemy.

"For crying out loud…" Tiadrin groaned, holding out her hand. "Give me it, I'll do it."

Runaan hesitated but gave a nod, slowly passing his phone over. However, in the moment before it changed hands Lain snatched it and lept off the couch.

"Lain!" Tiadrin and Runaan both exclaimed.

"Don't 'Lain' me," He protested with a sassy wave of his finger. "I'm being serious about this and you're not getting it!"

"What aren't we getting then?" Tiadrin sighed.

"He should get to have this," Lain said, eyes going soft as he held the phone close. Then he turned to Runaan and added: "You deserve this."

"Lain…" Runaan began slowly, watching his friend for a moment before finally giving in with a sigh. "I don't follow."

"That's exactly part of the problem," Lain whined, gesturing with one hand. "You don't get that you deserve things too!" He turned back to his girlfriend. "Tiadrin, how many times has he covered for us back when we first got together? How much extra work did he do so we could have time together?"

Tiadrin frowned softly. "This is different, Lain, Ethari-"

"Is human, I know. But name one other elf in this town, or in any of the towns surrounding it. Name one other Xadian in the area." He pointed a finger at Runaan. "You too! Name someone."

The pair on the couch sat silently.

"Exactly," Lain huffed, crossing his arms. "I know Ethari's human, but it's just a phase so what's the big deal?"

There was another long silence where the three stared each other down before Tiadrin finally broke it with a sigh, shaking her head.

"Fine," She relented. "The sooner you're over him the better anyways."

Runaan blinked, turning to her in surprise. "What? Tiadrin, you can't be serious, I-"

"Shut up and go pick out your outfit before Lain picks it for you."

The boys glanced at each other, Lain wearing a shiteating grin of triumph and excitement, and then he was off, dashing into Runaan's room like a storm.

The whole look had been a collaborative effort in the end, taking far more time than Runaan would have liked but coming out well nonetheless. He now strode down the street in fashionably ripped jeans, a light green tank top, and black Van's. A blue flannel was tied around his hips, a dark grey beanie sat on his head and a black choker along with a silver arrow pendant necklace lay around his neck, as well as a few dark colored bracelets around his wrists. He had even done his makeup, though it took both Lain and Tiadrins influence to persuade him into doing so. He was glad he had agreed to it in the end, the foundation would help hide this heat he felt in his cheeks. He felt a bit ridiculous despite his friends encouragement and reassurances. He did his best not to chew on his lip, the temptation being outweighed by the thought of having to redo part of the makeup that had taken the trio over an hour to "get just right". 

He sighed, fiddling with the steel pendant hanging in front of his chest instead. He knew he wasn't dressed atrociously, but he couldn't shake the feeling he looked odd in some way. He wasn't nervous, no. Runaan didn't get nervous. He was just playing through possible scenarios and outcomes in his head. It's best to be prepared, after all. 

He felt fairly confident Ethari would like the restaurant, the wife's who ran it being quite nice and friendly. It was a family establishment too, so that could be said about the rest of the staff as well. Ethari was a friendly person, and Runaan thought he might enjoy the equally friendly staff. He also knew the food was good, he'd gone there with Lain and Tiadrin their first night of college to celebrate and had returned on occasion when time allowed. There was also the decor he hoped Ethari would enjoy. There were various tanks full of colorful fish and the rest of the restaurant was decorated with different Japanese or Japanese inspired pieces and decor, many of which being quite intricate. He knew Ethari loved art, he'd had many glimpses at his doodles and other things that creative spirit had made, so hopefully he'd like the place's aesthetic.

_ Maybe I overthought this… He might not like it. Or maybe I misinterpreted the things he likes and chose a place he won't enjoy. Fuck. _

Even if Ethari did like the restaurant, Runaan was sure he would mess things up in some other way. One way or another, the night would end in disaster, he knew it.

As if this wasn't enough, another thing was prodding at him.

_ This is a step toward getting over hi- I mean, getting out of this phase. _

He swallowed hard, the memory of the first time Ethari had sent his heart aflutter four years ago resurfacing in his mind.

_ It's just a phase. _

He glanced across the street, eyes landing on the familiar front of the restaurant. And then on the familiar profile of Ethari.

_ Fuck. _

He sat near the window, gesturing about with a pen in one hand as he happily chatted with the waiter. Runaan flinched, checking the time but discovering he wasn't late, Ethari had just beaten him at being early. He slipped his phone back in his pocket, watching as Ethari smiled and talked, wondering if the other had come extra early out of courtesy or eagerness. He swallowed once more before finally making his way to the crosswalk. It'd be rude to keep him waiting.

“Runaan!” Lain’s voice cried into his ear via the communication enchantment placed on the trio’s transformation jewels.

“Lain?” Runaan asked once he’d glanced around and confirmed no one was watching him.

No reply.

“Lain, what’s wrong?” Runaan urged, the unease in him rising.

“We need backup,” Tiadrin barked, voice sounding strained and breathless. “Now!”

Runaan's eyes lingered on the view of Ethari happily doodling in his notebook through the window across the street. “Where are you?”

\-----

Blood and rotting meat. The scent filled his nose all the more the closer he ran to the rendezvous point. There were no citizens, they had fled when it had become clear how strong the spawn was, though there was the occasional news drone which he quickly disposed of with his bow and an arrow. There had also been a police barrier, but the officers seemed more ready to run than to fight. He dashed on top of the buildings, leaping rooftop to rooftop as he scanned the shrouded streets below for the battle he was late too. 

That fleshy metallic smell kept getting stronger, at this point it was so pungent he could taste it on his tongue. His heart was pounding and his mind raced. Lain and Tiadrin hadn’t given too many details asides from their location but they sounded like they were in bad shape. He kept an arrow notched as he ran, until his eyes finally landed on an intersection cloaked in brownish smog. 

He lept in without hesitation and found himself instantly in hazy darkness, the only light being that from the street lamps which made it through the fog and his softly glowing weapon. That nauseating smell was so strong now that his eyes watered, but he blinked the tears away and focused on the shrouded scene before him.  Behind him, he saw the edge of the sidewalk, but he couldn’t see much past a meter away, and it was eerily quiet.

“Tiadrin,” He spoke softly, the earthy cloud dancing by his breath. “Lain, I’m here. What’s your situation?”

A shuttering whine sounded from the left, but the noise wasn’t elven nor human. Runaan turned just in time to glimpse some sort of tendril emerge from the fog and collide with his chest, sending him flying back before eventually colliding with the ground and rolling to a stop in something warm and sticky. 

He gasped for the air that had been knocked out of him, his weapons bursting with momentary light before disappearing completely, the force of the blow having been too strong for him to maintain their form, but the flash of light had given him a glimpse of something, a peek at the source of the dark pool he lay in. His breath hitched in his throat.

That whine sounded again, echoing in the darkness. He couldn’t tell which direction it’d come from, he couldn’t see the spawn and it moved lightly enough that he couldn't tell it’s location through sound or vibration either. But he knew it was moving closer.

He pushed himself into motion, pain shooting through his chest as he wrapped his arms around the unconscious Lain he had fallen next to and pulled himself to his feet. He lifted his companion into his arms, feeling blood soak into his own clothing. He needed to get Lain somewhere safe, out of harm's way until the spawn was dealt with and they could retreat and deal with his wounds. He placed a kiss on Lains forehead and said a silent prayer that his best friend would make it until then. 

He then scanned the area, searching in the grimey fog for the safest route to take. The spawn was being quiet now, it was either searching through the smog for him or had found him a boring foe. He took a quiet step forward, then a second, silently making his way toward where he hoped a building was and gradually picking up speed. He could hide Lain there, in the shelter of some store or alley that the spawn hopefully couldn’t fit into. He squinted through the dimness, taking in every glimpse of his surroundings he could get, until suddenly his foot slipped downward, twisting painfully as he and his cargo hit the asphalt. He glanced toward his feet, half expecting to see the spawn but instead seeing a pothole. 

A fucking pothole.

He managed to suppress any exclamation of pain or frustration that would have passed his lips and he managed to keep his cursing internal, but there was no way to suppress the sound of two bodies hitting the ground. He held his breath, hoping the sound would go ignored or unnoticed, but hope was worthless. 

A humid breath puffed out, sending the grime in the air twirling as a warped snout leaned down into his vision from above. It was long, whiskers bent and broken and almost completely void of fur. There were patches of raw skin and even completely exposed muscle, all glistening and oozing a blackish goop, and bits of metal stuck out here and there, a few tubes or pipes showing in its exposed flesh. Its teeth stuck out at odd angles, some cutting through the thing's lips.

Runaan manifested a large bow and arrow aimed at the creature, but it didn’t seem to care. It simply straightened itself to its full height, several glops of the painfully hot goop falling upon Runaan's cheeks.  With the light his newly manifested weapon gave off, Runaan was able to see much more of the creature. 

The spawn had a long, boney body with spikes of metal sticking out randomly and was at least four stories tall. It had a set of front and hind legs, sort of like a ferret, but it also had three more limbs sprouting from seemingly random places that hung lifeless along its body. The skin of its torso was pulled back, pinned to its sides by jagged and rusty pipes that bellowed more smog. The muscles of its chest were also pinned back, revealing its ribcage and all its innards like a morbid autopsy. The spawn seemed to have no internal organs, instead, pipes and tubes and pulsing, fleshy tendrils lay nestled and interwoven in its chest cavity, wrapping around and weaving into its torso and waist. More pipes protruded from its back, and it seemed the flesh there too was pulled back, allowing muscle coated pipes to bulge out and numerous tendrils to hang out and grope the ground aimlessly. 

The spawn stared down at him with large, grainy yellow eyes, sitting on its haunches, and Runaan took the opportunity to fire his bow. The arrow collided with its chest cavity, sending the spawn stumbling back and howling. Runaan pulled Lain into his arms and ran blindly, stumbling and doing his best to ignore the pain in his chest and ankle, the stinging in his eyes and lungs.  The creature let out another whine and then a tendril was wrapping itself around Runaan’s legs. Runaan let out a cry of surprise as he was yanked back, Lain falling from his arms and disappearing in the fog as the spawn threw Runaan through the front window of some store.

Runaan let out a cry of pain, colliding headfirst into a support beam with a sickening crack before falling to the floor. He blinked rapidly, urging his vision to come back into focus as he fought to reclaim his breath once again and felt the sting of numerous cuts upon his skin and pain wracking his skull and part of his face. The water dampening his eyes finally slipped down his cheeks from the combination of the sensation and the putrid smell threatening to choke him. He took a shaky breath and at last his vision cleared, his eyes coming to focus on a twisting brown horn. 

He stared, a feeling of confusion bubbling in him that mixed with a sense of knowing which sent his fingers twitching. He closed his hands into fists and took a deep breath, fighting the urge to reach up and feel the top of his head as he stared at the item that had previously been a part of his person, but his eyes soon fell on something else.

Several tendrils slithered toward him, the creature hunched over with its massive head pressed to the ground in order to peer into the store. Runaan manifested another large bow and arrow but the spawn had him before he could fire it. It let out another whine, pulling Runaan out of the store and into the air, watching him dangle by his neck under its death grip. Runaan tried to focus, tried to breathe and summon another weapon but the spawns grip around his neck, and now his torso and legs too, was gradually tightening.

“Tiadrin!” He gasped, hoping he was audible through the communicators.

And by what must have been a miracle, she answered.

“Hang tight,” Her breathless voice instructed. “I’ve got your back.”

There was a sudden light and the creature let out a cry, dropping Runaan as it blundered about and clawed at its back. Runaan managed to soften his collision with the ground by manifesting a flowerlike platform, but he still hit the concrete with a cry of pain. There were several more flashes of light and Runaan could see the silhouettes of his teammate and the monster battling in the fog. Tiadrin’s stance was off, her right shoulder thrown back in an odd manner and she was clearly favoring one leg over the other. With a strangled grunt, Runaan pushed himself to his feet. 

It would take a large spell to kill off this spawn, but with his friend here he knew they could pull it off, even if the team was currently incomplete. 

He summoned a series of bows, firing at the creature from multiple angles. He knew they wouldn’t do much damage, but if they distracted the creature enough for Tiadrin to get a few more licks in it was well worth it. She seemed to have a good idea of what spots produced the best damage. 

He watched her attacks for a moment, continuing his arrow ambush, then began chanting a spell. Tiadrins voice joined too, a bright light beginning to form above the spawn’s head as they chanted the Draconic words. The creature let out another trembling whine, the haze thickening and rendering Tiadrin no longer visible through the fog. He could make out the upper portion of the creature though, thanks to the light of their spell. Tiadrin raised her voice and Runaan followed suit, limping closer to where he had last seen her. 

The light grew brighter until it began to take the shape of a giant saber. Flowers bloomed around its hilt, a series of thorny, vine-like whips flourishing around it like a deadly bloom. The vines lashed out, ensnaring the spawns head and pulling the sword towards it. 

The spawn let out another harsh whine, its tendrils lashing out in random directions. Runaan stumbled back, summoning a smaller sword to slash at the few that came his way. The spawn was holding the blade back now, crying in pain as the saber’s metal bit into the tendrils it was using to halt its success. Runaan cursed, summoning another bow, smaller than before but still fairly large. There wasn’t enough moonlight coming through the grotesque cloud that surrounded them, he realized, the harder they fought the quicker their energy would drain.

_ We have to finish this quickly either way. _

An arrow manifested with a flash of light, catching the spawn's eye. Runaan glared, showing his full hatred for the thing with his face and fired it, the ornate bow flying through the air towards the tendrils hindering their larger attack. The creature didn’t even bat its eyes, instead, it raised several more tendrils to block the arrow's path. He felt the hope of victory, but the feeling quickly fled as he noticed the way the raised tendrils squirmed. A feeling of coldness flooded him. 

The spawn wasn’t holding its own limbs in the way, it had grabbed Tiadrin and was using her as a shield and Runaan had realized it too late. Her scream rang out, piercing his ears both through the air and through the communicator. He yelled her name, panic and dread filling him as he manifested a pair of twin blades and charged the creature. 

The vines tethering the sword to its target began to vanish, but the blade had done enough damage to the creature's tendrils to claim part of its mark. The creature let out a cry, the light flourishing as the sword went through the side of its neck. And then the light vanished as the creature fell over and the weapon disappeared.

“Tiadrin?!” He called, voice shaky and uneven in the sudden darkness. “Tiadrin, are you alright?! Where are you?!  _ Tia _ !”

He fumbled blindly through the darkness, crying out his friends' names in hopes of answers that wouldn’t come, in hopes of any answer. 

In a way, he got what he wished for: An answer, though it wasn’t one he had expected. 

Heavy breathing reached his ears and the fog began to thicken, snuffing out all but the last whispers of light. Runaan choked on his breath, the smell of gore and decay making his eyes water profusely now, his spit drying up in his mouth. He struggled for breath, gripping his swords tighter as he desperately searched the darkness. He heard the sound of liquid hitting the asphalt and then that ghostly whine again, and the next thing he knew he was being grabbed.

Tendrils wrapped around his arms and legs, pulling in four different directions as the spawn raised him to eye level, those speckled puddles or grimy yellow giving faint light in the darkness. 

Runaan let out a strangled noise, whether it was a grunt of pain or a cry of fear he wasn’t sure, but he struggled to maintain his weapons' forms as the tendrils tightened more and more, pulling further and further. He finally let out a proper cry, his swords vanishing in a flash of light.

It was the flash of light, he realized later, which had startled the spawn into finally attacking instead of playing with its food.

It snarled, baring its teeth for a brief second before it turned it’s head and bit down. Runaan screamed as its fangs pierced his skin and the tendrils finally relented, then the creature tossed its head and threw him toward the ground below. 

Runaan thought that would be it. That he would hit the ground and die then and there in some gloomy crossroad where his friends lay hidden and bleeding, but those maimed tendrils grabbed him once again, digging into his flesh. The creature lowered itself to eye level with Runaan once more, watching with interest as a tendril dug into his left arm, piercing his flesh until it felt bone. Runaan screamed in pain, the tendril digging deeper and exploring the inside of his arm. He writhed, struggling to get free as the spawn observed, glee shining in its eyes. It let out a warbled, giddy sound as a snap came from Runaan's forearm and elicited another scream from the elf.

And then everything went black.

\-----

Ibis didn't envy the fighters, though he knew many who did. If he had a quill for every time he heard a fellow healer speak jealously of the fame and fortune the fighting class possessed he would have enough feathers to build himself wings. 

Or at least a nice boa.

There was no question that being a fighter came with perks. They received luxurious housing during their stays in Xadia, got nearly everything they asked for too, some even had pets, and they were all deemed as heroes. Ibis had heard his colleague's call the fighting class stuck up and prideful more times than he could count, had heard plenty of tales of assets who were selfish, ungrateful, and arrogant.  Ibis kept his mouth shut during such discussions. 

He'd never been assigned a fighter class asset to assist and look after and he apparently lived far too different from the others in his class to "get it", so anything he tried to say tended to earn him scoffs or eyerolls.  But he felt the fighting class had earned their goodies and spoils. They went from place to place defending and protecting humans from monstrous dark mages which was no easy task. He'd seen the effects said task had on people every day. Sure, the fighting class received a lot of pampering, but they had plenty of scars too.

As Ibis ran in the direction of screaming, he knew he would never envy the fighters.

"How many?" He asked the first healer he saw.

"Three," The woman replied after recovering from the shock of someone suddenly speaking to her and that someone being the mage of the Skywing elves. "They just arrived."

Together they ran the rest of the way toward the screaming. It was the cries of one person, Ibis realized, not three. He furrowed his brows, coming to a breathless stop next to the Earthblood healer he'd arrived with and waited impatiently for the guards to open the doors to the emergency entrance bay.

"He's here!" The Earthblood called, dashing into the room.

Ibis scanned his eyes across the three Moonshadow elves that each laid on their own gurneys as he approached, feeling many of the eyes in the room turn to him.

The trio consisted of a woman and two men, all of whom were rather pale and grimy. 

The first man lay completely limp, eyes shut and chest moving in shallow breaths. Blood stained his clothing, coming from multiple cuts and what appeared to be a much more serious wound on his side and back. There was a large gash on the right side of his head and much of his body was battered black and blue. Blood slowly pooled beneath him.

_ Head injury, blood loss, possible internal bleeding. _

The woman was awake, her eyes wide open and her lips repeating the same illegible words. A spell? She had dark veins under her eyes and her lips were a blue-ish purple color. She was in a similar condition to the first man except she sported only half the cuts and no head injury or large gashes. Her right shoulder was fairly swollen, and her opposite leg lay bending in an unnatural way.

_ Dislocated shoulder, broken leg, possible spinal or back injury, possible intoxication of poison or venom. _

The second man was the source of the screaming. He thrashed about, his long white hair strewn and saturated with blood and some sort of black goo. Black veins showed through his skin and his eyes were bloodshot, the sclera a dusty brown color and his pupils the size of pinheads. His left horn had been broken off and his left arm was almost completely mangled, bleeding and laying limp at his side in a warped heap. Black liquid fell from his eyes like tears, dripped from his mouth and ears and nose. He spat it as he screamed and fought the healers trying to keep him in place.

_ Oh dear. _

Ibis raised his voice above the din, issuing instructions to the healers present. They flew into action and the guards held open the doors to the rest of the healing house, barking orders at the people inside to get out of the way. Ibis knew many of the people here didn’t like being bossed around like this, it was especially apparent with the people who shot him annoyed or dirty looks, but he didn’t care. The queen asked for any available healers in the area to come and help this trio, but she had asked for Ibis’ presence by name and he knew exactly why. 

There would be no dieing tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to a video of a dog eating cheese to make up for the oof in this chapter.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imIhkJPka0M   
> His name is Norbert.


End file.
